COVID-19 case numbers keep climbing in Whatcom. These regions have been hardest hit
Five of Whatcom County’s seven school district regions saw triple-digit increases in their two-week COVID-19 infection rates, as the recent surge in cases has hit the entire county hard.
Five of the seven regions established new record highs for infection rate, The Bellingham Herald’s analysis of the Whatcom County Health Department’s latest location data released on Tuesday, Jan. 4, showed, as only the regions covered by the Lynden and Nooksack Valley school districts did not set new high marks.
But those two regions, along with the Ferndale region, all had rates higher than 900 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks, and no region had a rate below 750.
Rates in the Bellingham, Blaine, Ferndale and Mount Baker regions were all double what they were only seven days earlier, as each of those regions, along with the Lynden region, had more than 100 new cases reported last week.
Additionally, the Lynden, Meridian and Nooksack Valley regional all have seen at least 35 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks, while the Mount Baker region hasn’t seen any during that time frame.
The county health department releases weekly data on the location of COVID-19 cases using school districts as geographical boundaries, including each region’s number of total cases during the pandemic, infection rate, hospitalization rate, percentage of residents who have initiated vaccination and a breakdown of case rates by age. Data in this week’s report was through Saturday, Jan. 1.
Overall, Whatcom County saw a 6.9% growth in cases with 1,373 new cases between Dec. 26 and Jan. 1 — up from the 566 new cases the county reported the previous week.
With 1,939 cases in the past two weeks, Whatcom County has an overall two-week infection rate of 862 cases per 100,000 residents, based on 225,300 residents in the county. Three of the county’s regions had infection rates lower than that mark, according to the county’s data this week.
As of Monday, Jan. 3, the Washington State Department of Health reported that 70% of all Whatcom County residents had initiated vaccination and 64% had completed it.
Here is what the health department’s latest data showed for the seven regions in the county:
Bellingham: Up 8.3% (591 cases) since the Dec. 28 report to 7,721 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 362 last week to 763 this week. Approximately 80% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen nine COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 in the past two weeks.
Blaine: Up 7.3% (115 cases) since the Dec. 28 report to 1,700 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 414 last week to 870 this week. Approximately 73% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 11 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Ferndale: Up 7.2% (278 cases) since the Dec. 28 report to 4,149 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 379 last week to 996 this week. Approximately 69% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen six COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Lynden: Up 4.3% (149 cases) since the Dec. 28 report to 3,603 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 572 last week to 981 this week. Approximately 57% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 47 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Meridian: Up 5.1% (59 cases) since the Dec. 28 report to 1,215 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 410 last week to 740 this week. Approximately 66% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 62 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Mount Baker: Up 8.3% (101 cases) since the Dec. 28 report to 1,319 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 330 last week to 772 this week. Approximately 49% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen no COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
Nooksack Valley: Up 5.2% (80 cases) since the Dec. 28 report to 1,618 total cases, and the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 532 last week to 976 this week. Approximately 54% of residents in the region have initiated vaccination, and the region has seen 35 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.
